Thread: Unable to throw punches while dreaming?

Hey guys, this may sound weird, but every time I have a dream that I get into a fight with someone (doesn't happen too frequently, but it does happen..), I am unable to actually make contact with the person I am trying to punch. I start to punch the person, but then my arm stops right before it hits their face.. EVERY SINGLE TIME. I've never thrown a good punch in a dream, ever.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to actually be able to punch? lmao

Did you ever punch anything in waking life? If not, get a pillow and practice Or when you punch, expect his head to bounce backwards from power of your fist.

Many, if not most people, have similar problems that you are having, myself including. Some of the things I have experienced were that during some nightmares I tried to run away from what I was afraid of, but no matter how hard I tried to run, I instead moved extremely slowly, even slower than if I was just walking. Other times, when I tried to punch something or someone, my fist would move extremely slowly and when my fist finally impacted my target, I did absolutely no damage.
As gab said, you may want to start punching things in real life or continue trying to punch/make physical contact in the dream world until you make a breakthrough and it finally works.
I understand these are very odd and very vague suggestions, but there is really nothing else that can be suggested because there are a variety of reasons why you have this problem, and thus it is nearly impossible for people, other than yourself, to "diagnose" your particular problem. Perhaps the first time you ever punched someone in a dream, your arm stopped moving, and from now on your sun conscious mind believes this is how punching is supposed to work in the dream world. Or perhaps deep down you don't think your punches won't do anything, and so your sub conscious mind makes it so your punches really won't do anything.

Originally Posted by TranquilityTrip

Many, if not most people, have similar problems that you are having, myself including. Some of the things I have experienced were that during some nightmares I tried to run away from what I was afraid of, but no matter how hard I tried to run, I instead moved extremely slowly, even slower than if I was just walking. Other times, when I tried to punch something or someone, my fist would move extremely slowly and when my fist finally impacted my target, I did absolutely no damage.
As gab said, you may want to start punching things in real life or continue trying to punch/make physical contact in the dream world until you make a breakthrough and it finally works.
I understand these are very odd and very vague suggestions, but there is really nothing else that can be suggested because there are a variety of reasons why you have this problem, and thus it is nearly impossible for people, other than yourself, to "diagnose" your particular problem. Perhaps the first time you ever punched someone in a dream, your arm stopped moving, and from now on your sun conscious mind believes this is how punching is supposed to work in the dream world. Or perhaps deep down you don't think your punches won't do anything, and so your sub conscious mind makes it so your punches really won't do anything.

That's exactly what my problem is... Happens with running too! Just slows down to a halt, or it slows and i miss... I'm definitely going to practice a bit more next time I am lucid, will post results on here

OMG Today I was thinking about a dream I had, a nightmare, my mother was being beat by her brother in front of her car and I got out of the car to get him off and i would go to punch him and there was resistance. Im not sure if it was resistance or couldnt. I thought about it and I thought it signified something in me that has become aparent to me in life, I have become somewhat timid when it comes to defending myself or others. How could I not punch him? I was pulling him off and wreslting but a punch wouldve ended it.. he was being crazy. It made me think of my life and how I need to be more assertive. I dont know if thats your deal but it might spark something..

What gab said, and you could also try taking pill or potion of some kind in dream that would make you more powerful!

yep every time I'm in a non lucid and have to fight or run away from something, it never works. As said I just run extremely slow-mo and when I punch, I feel like I have the strength of a 1 year old girl. It really pisses me off haha. I always thought it was my subconscious making me deal with problems in a different way or something. I still don't understand why it happens so often though

It's quite weird, I've punched people in real life (2 times only, third one is getting close though) for being dicks and I've been doing kickboxing for a year and a half yet I'm still experiencing the very same problem. It's weird really.

Originally Posted by Athylus

It's quite weird, I've punched people in real life (2 times only, third one is getting close though) for being dicks and I've been doing kickboxing for a year and a half yet I'm still experiencing the very same problem. It's weird really.

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As I said OP, it's actually a rather common problem among lucid and non-lucid dreamers alike.

Yeah when I fight in my dreams my punches just fly so slow and they don't inflict the damage I want them to, I also can never run fast, in my dreams EVERYONE out runs me, it's a horrible feeling.

I can punch with full force, but my DCs are invincible. I guess deep inside, I'm a pacifist after all.

The majority of dreams are negative and one of the most common themes is weakness/ineffectuality. I'll never forget the dream where I was playing street hockey against Ozzy Osbourne in front of my friend's house using the head of a battle axe as a puck and axes as hockey sticks. I'd hit it as hard as I could and it would just slide a couple of feet forward and stop there weakly, then Ozzy would twitch his hockey stick and the puck would fly to him and he;d nail it so it flew at me unbelievably hard and would bury itself deep in a wall behind me. I'd have to work hard to slowly wiggle it out of the wall and hit it as hard as I could again, just making it move a few inches weakly, and he'd again twitch his axe against the street and bring it snapping to him for another powerful smack. Fun fun.

I thought about it and I thought it signified something in me that has become aparent to me in life, I have become somewhat timid when it comes to defending myself or others. How could I not punch him? I was pulling him off and wreslting but a punch wouldve ended it.. he was being crazy. It made me think of my life and how I need to be more assertive. I dont know if thats your deal but it might spark something..

It makes sense that these dreams might symbolize feelings of doubt/insecurity/vulnerability that stem from our waking lives. This could explain why it's such a common theme, and why it is so difficult to overcome the problem even with lucid control.

I used to have this problem quite frequently, but it actually got better after taking a martial arts class. Whether this resulted from a boost in self-confidence or actual experience is hard to say. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

I had the running thing once. I hate that slow mo feeling. I think you just gotta believe in yourself.